Vital Signs
by emalinaloop
Summary: Steve Rogers has survived battle after battle. Now that the war for New York is over and won, peace seems like a viable option. But what happens when S.H.I.E.L.D. finds a new recruit in a quiet girl named Amy? New darkness is beginning to surface. With evil threatening Earth again, can the Avengers alone keep it safe? Captain America/OC
1. The Fight Isn't Over

**Hello there, this is my first fic of the Avengers. I hope you enjoy.**

***Disclaimer* I own none of the Marvel characters unfortunately. The only things I take credit for are my own characters and plot line.**

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Amelia Lancaster stood in front of her small mirror. She adjusted the ponytail that held her thick brown hair. She pulled down the sleeves of her sweatshirt so that they were halfway passed her hands. Her green eyes stared back at her as she once again tried to remove the drowsiness that was plastered all over her face.

After giving up on improving her outfit, she walked out of the bathroom and into the kitchen. A pot of coffee was already made, and so she poured some into a travel mug. "Lynn I'm leaving," Amy called. She made her way to the door, twisting the knob gently as she let herself out.

"Hey, after work can you pick up some more milk?" Amy's roommate Lynn called to her as Amy was striding out of their apartment. Her blonde friend sat on the couch gazing at the TV. Amy froze and turned around, giving her friend the affirmative before continuing to exit the room.

Amy worked at a bookstore that was only a three block walk from her apartment in New York City. Within minutes she pushed open the door, smiling as the bell rang, signaling someone entering the store. She smiled in greeting at the owner Ted, before putting on her name tag that identified her as 'Amelia.' Amy had corrected Ted numerous times that she preferred to be called Amy, but he still chose to ignore it.

After assuming her position behind the counter, she began flipping through the books that had been discarded there. After flipping through a pile that contained _The Catcher in the Rye, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, _and a book on World War I, Amy discovered an old comic book. As she was about to flip through the pages, the bell sounded, signaling a new customer had entered the store.

A well dressed man strode up to the desk, a briefcase in his hand. His lips were drawn in a straight line, conveying little emotion. "Miss Amelia Lancaster, I presume?" The man asked, eyeing her name tag.

"That would be me," Amy replied cautiously. Her last name was nowhere on the tag, nor did the man appear familiar in any way. "May I help you sir?" The man glanced around the store, scoping out the other people.

"Perhaps there is a place where we could discuss things more privately?"

"May I ask what this is about?" Amy slowly came out from behind the desk, now standing face to face with the man.

He smiled slightly, reaching into the pocket of his coat. He pulled out an official looking badge, his eyes completely serious. He lowered his voice,"My name is Agent Moore of S.H.I.E.L.D., Miss Lancaster, and you and I need to have a little talk."

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[Brooklyn, New York]

Steve Rogers sighed as he flipped through the day's newspaper. It seemed like every headline screamed violence. More than anything Steve wanted the fighting to be over. He had survived one war only to be thrown into another, and frankly he wished he could slip back into being a civilian. _You're Captain America, dammit Steve. For Bucky and Peggy's sake, you need to keep people safe. _

The cell phone that S.H.I.E.L.D. had provided for him lay across the table. He hadn't touched it since it had been given to him, to be honest he wasn't quite sure who he would contact even if he knew how to work it. Clint and Natasha were deployed on a mission for S.H.I.E.L.D., Thor was back in Asgard with Loki, and Bruce and Tony were busy working away at fixing and improving Stark Tower.

With the Avengers gone their separate ways, Steve had simply gone home to Brooklyn. It was the only home he knew, but it wasn't the same without Bucky tagging along on adventures with him.

He stood up, gently tossing the newspaper onto the table. He pushed aside the curtains that were covering the window. He looked outside, taking in his city. Steve could feel the nostalgia setting in as he remembered his childhood. Just as his mind began to drift off, an incessant ringing brought him back to reality. He searched for the source, finally identifying it as the tiny cellular phone lying on his kitchen table. He reached for it, pressing a button to answer the phone call.

"Hello?" He asked hesitantly.

"Captain Rogers, this is Agent Moore. We need you to come in as soon as possible." A strong voice sounded from the other end of the line. Steve muttered a response and then the call went dead. He rubbed his temples, closing his eyes. _I guess the fight's not over._

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**Okay so I hope you liked that chapter! Please let me know what you think of Amy and how I could possibly improve her character and the story overall. **

**I'll try to update as soon as I can. Please review!**

**-Emily**


	2. The Avengers Initiative

**Alright so here's the next chapter. Thank you to the few people who have read this story so far. You're going to get a little more background on Amy in this chapter so hooray!**

***disclaimer* I own none of the Marvel characters, I only take credit for my own creations. **

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Amy froze when Agent Moore told her that he worked for S.H.I.E.L.D. She had heard whispers of them from some of her professors when she had attended college. Her Physics Professor had spoken about some friends of his out in New Mexico who had some dealings with S.H.I.E.L.D several months earlier.

Agent Moore led a reluctant Amy to a nearby coffee shop, choosing to sit at the secluded table in the corner. Amy bit her lip nervously, gazing around at anyone or anything but the agent who had brought her there. After ordering a drink for himself, Agent Moore sat back across from her. He pulled out a cell phone and proceeded to dial a number. After a few seconds pause, the agent spoke, "Captain Rogers, this is Agent Moore. We need you to come in as soon as possible."

After closing the phone, Agent Moore took a swig of his coffee. Amy watched in silence, waiting for the point of this meeting to be discussed. She wondered who Captain Rogers was and Agent Moore needed him. Her thought process was interrupted by Agent Moore clearing his throat.

"Miss Lancaster, I'm sure you're wondering why I dragged you out of the blue to this coffee shop," Agent Moore raised his eyebrow. Amy simply looked down at her hands. He reached into his briefcase, pulling out a file. "Amelia Rose Lancaster, age twenty-four. Born to Kristen and Ted Lancaster, one older brother, Charlie, yes? You have several degrees in science from various universities. Graduated high school in the top ten of your class. There's no doubt here Miss Lancaster that you're a genius."

"Sir, why would S.H.I.E.L.D. have interest in me? I mean, you have Tony Stark on call don't you? He would be a better suited person to consult for scientific matters." Amy looked at the agent with apprehension. Her nerves were welling up, she could feel a little tremor in her hand. Agent Moore smiled briefly at her.

"Oh but you're more than just intelligent, am I correct? We've got several reports from when you were younger-" Amy cut him off by standing up and dashing out of the shop. She quickly strode as far away as she could, but she could hear the quick pace of another person following her. A hand was suddenly on her shoulder and she turned around to see herself looking at Agent Moore again. "Perhaps that wasn't the best time for me to bring that up, however, S.H.I.E.L.D. has had interest in you for some time Amelia. The Director and others would at least like to speak to you. Would you please come with me? I promise it won't take too unbearably long."

A black sedan pulled up along the curb and the agent gestured for her to get in. Reluctantly, Amy opened the door of the car and slid in.

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Steve Rogers once again found himself on board of the S.H.I.E.L.D helicarrier. One of the agents had directed him to a conference room. Upon entering, Steve was semi-relieved to see two familiar faces. At the end of the massive wooden table sat Tony Stark, smug grin and all. Director Nick Fury stood to the side. He gave a slight nod at Steve and gestured for him to sit.

"Capsicle! Aren't you a sight for sore eyes, Fury here is not the best company. No offense," The billionaire added. Steve simply sat down to the left of Tony.

"Now that you're here Captain, we just are waiting for one more-ah, speak of the devil!" Fury declared as two new people entered the room. One was clearly a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, Steve remembered seeing him several times prior. The other, however, was completely unknown to him. The girl was pale, with dark brown hair and striking green eyes. "Stark, Captain, meet Amelia Lancaster. I am Director Nick Fury," Fury extended a hand to Amy, who reluctantly shook it. She hesitantly took a seat across from Steve.

"Pleasure to meet you ma'am." Steve said as he looked at the newcomer. Amy smiled warmly at him before turning her attention back to Director Fury. Steve could have sworn he had seen a slight blush in her cheeks, but quickly dismissed the thought.

"Finally, a pretty face. You have no idea how unbearable it is to be surrounded by boring agents all the time." Tony Stark complained. Amy almost laughed at his boldness but kept herself quiet.

"Stark," Fury warned.

"What? Just making the new kid feel welcome!"

"Anyway Amelia-" Fury paused as Amy corrected that she preferred to be called Amy. Fury sighed quietly before correcting himself, "Amy, has Agent Moore explained to you why you were being brought in?"

_It's quite clear why, _Amy thought to herself. "I have a general idea,"

"Good. So, I take it you have heard of the Avenger's Initiative?" Fury's one good eye stared at her. Amy remembered several months before, when Loki and his army had ravaged the city. The Avenger's pictures were plastered on every news channel for weeks. It then dawned on Amy that she was in the presence of none other than Iron Man. The other man looked familiar as well. His blue eyes were warm and inviting. _The Director called him Captain. _Amy realized who the other man was.

"You're Captain America!" She covered her mouth when she realized that she had spoken aloud. Her cheeks felt warm and Amy stared down at the floor. Fury cleared his throat, causing Amy to once again look up at him.

"Yes he is Miss Lancaster. Back to the point, we are here to talk to you about the Avenger's Initiative. Recently, some disturbances have been on our radar. Your file suggests that you might able to help us. Will you?"

"Sir, with all due respect I'm not sure what I can offer."

"Fury, how come you didn't tell us the new chick was gonna be bad ass?" Stark teased. Steve Rogers smiled slightly at Amy. "So kid, what can you do? Shoot fire from your hands? No don't tell me, you can teleport, can't you?"

"No, I can't teleport. Director, I don't trust myself with these types of things. It's ruined my life. My powers...I haven't used them in over four years. I'll help, but I don't think I'll be very useful."

"Well, I suppose you'll have to train along with the other Avengers then. Welcome to the team."

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**Yay for Amy! So I hope you liked the chapter. More of Amy's background will be revealed in the coming chapters.**

**Please review, it always means so much to me.**

**-Emily**


	3. Redemption

**Thank you for such kind comments on the previous chapters everyone! I hope you enjoy this one as well. For all of you wanting to know about her powers, this should make you happy :)**

***Disclaimer* I don't own any of the Marvel characters, I only take credit for my own creations.**

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"I'll leave you all alone so you can get to know each other," Nick Fury said as he exited the room with the other S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. Steve looked over to Amy who was glancing down at her hands. He was confused about her, overall she seemed shy, but there was a fire in her he didn't see in many.

"So Amy, I haven't had enough notice to hack the database for your files, so you tell me kiddo, who are you?" Tony raised an eyebrow at her.

"Um...I'm Amy, I'm twenty four. I have degrees in Chemistry and Physics, graduated in the top ten of my class. I-" Amy was cut short by Tony giving a disapproving nod of his head.

"You'd like Stark Tower if you love science. No, I mean who **are **you? What can you do?"

"Mr. Stark I don't think that-"

"Kid, call me Tony, seriously, this isn't some super fancy college class. You can call him Steve, although personally I like to call him Capsicle or Stars and Stripes." Tony chuckled as he gestured to Steve.

"Stark I told you already to stop calling me that. And stop pestering her, if she doesn't want to talk about her powers than she doesn't have to." Steve voiced. Tony rolled his eyes and pulled out his phone.

"I'll hack the system if you want. I mean the reception is awful here so it'll probably take twenty minutes, but I'll find out. Look I'm sick of secrets. The last time S.H.I.E.L.D. kept things from us the six of us nearly tore each other's heads off." The billionaire looked at the S.H.I.E.L.D. insignia on the wall. The whole room was barren of decoration except for the symbol.

"Stark," Steve warned, it wasn't right to pressure a lady like that.

"It's alright Steve. I suppose I owe it to you two," Amy said hesitantly. Her memories were flashing in front of her eyes. "I suppose it started when I was fourteen. That was when my telepathic abilities began to surface. When my parents found out, they were so scared, and so I ran away. Professor Xavier of the X-Men contacted me, he taught me how to control my abilities, how to protect myself. I stayed with them for a few months and I was happy, I had friends who didn't think I was a freak. But one day we went on a mission, I was supposed to be Wolverine's backup, but I got distracted by guards. He got hurt really bad, but with his healing factor he was fine after a few days. I just...I couldn't stand myself after I let one of my friends get hurt, and so I ran away. I managed to make my way through college. I thought I wasn't a freak anymore, I thought I was out of this. But I guess not."

Tony and Steve both stared at her. A small grin was playing at the corner of Tony's mouth.

"Professor Xavier thought I had other abilities as well, but we never got the chance to unlock them," Amy quickly added.

"I think that that's pretty damn cool," Tony winked at her.

"Ma'am, if you don't mind me asking, if you don't want to be a part of this, then why did you tell Fury that you would help?" Steve was surprised to hear himself asking the question aloud. Amy looked at him for a few seconds before answering.

"Redemption." Amy replied. "If I can help people, then maybe I'll finally forgive myself. Living in limbo is doing me no good." Steve smiled slightly and nodded at her.

"So how are those X-jerks?" Tony Stark's voice was full of sarcasm, causing Amy to laugh slightly.

"I wouldn't know, I haven't seen any of them in probably six years." The thought made Amy slightly sad, she prayed they were all still okay.

"Does Fury know about this?" Steve questioned.

"I'd assume so, but then again you never know what S.H.I.E.L.D. simply pretends to know," Tony answered for Amy.

Amy sighed slightly and looked at the two men who sat at the table with her. The first members of her new team. For the first time Amy had people who would understand her lack of normality. For the first time in six years, Amy felt like she had a family.

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**So there you go. I apologize if the characters seem slightly OOC. I'm trying my best to write them in character. I'm also trying to research the Marvel universe as much as I can so I can be accurate. But like I've said before this is my first Avengers fic so I apologize if this isn't as accurate as it could be.**

**Anyway, what do you think of Amy being a former X-man? Do you like it? Should the X-men be involved in this story? Please review and tell me what you think :)**

**-Emily**


	4. A Hint of Betrayal

**I apologize for such a gap between updates, school has been really hectic and I've been working on my other story as well. Also, thank you so much for the wonderful feedback. **

***Disclaimer* I don't own any of the Marvel characters, I only take credit for what is my creation.**

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The three Avengers sat in the room for several more minutes, making small talk and trying to get to know each other more. Tony made snark and suggestive comments often (much to Amy's discomfort and Steve's annoyance.) Amy asked a few questions about her new teammates, which Tony took the liberty of answering. He described Bruce, Natasha, Clint, and Thor in a very colorful way that was a very poor representation of who they actually were. Steve occasionally corrected him, which earned him an annoyed glance from the billionaire.

After a few minutes, several agents knocked on the door, insisting on showing Amy her new living quarters. She waved goodbye to the two other Avengers and smiled politely at them both before exiting. After the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents took Amy to her room, Steve was once again left alone with Tony Stark. The billionaire sat with a smirk across his face that would have rivaled Loki's a few months ago.

"What exactly is so funny, Stark?" He asked, not bothering to hide his annoyance.

"Nothing Capsicle, just thinking of colors for your wedding. I saw the way you looked at her, and I saw the way you glared at me when I made a comment," Tony Stark raised his eyebrow suggestively at the soldier. Steve said nothing in return but he shot Tony a sharp glance. "Calm down Cap, you've been frozen for decades, it's time you got some action. Hmm, I'm thinking red." Tony gave an appraising look at Steve as if he was trying to decide if he would look good in an all red tuxedo.

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Amy collapsed back on the small bed in her room. She pulled out her phone and began dialing Lynn's number. The phone rang once before her roommate answered.

"Amy! Thank God! Where the hell are you? When you didn't come home after your shift I called your boss and he said that you left with some guy!" Her friend's panicked voice rambled.

"Lynn calm down, I'm fine okay? I'm at my parent's house, that guy was my brother," Amy lied. "Listen, I won't be home for a while, my mom's really busy and needs help around the house. Will you be okay?"

"Amy I'll be fine, you know me. Just call me when you're coming home, 'kay?" Amy told Lynn that she would and then she hung up the phone. Amy sat there for a while, remembering the few months that she had spent with Xavier and his X-men. Out of all of her friends, her closest had been Kitty Pryde, who happened to be the same age as her. After the accident with Logan, she had tried to convince Amy to stay. Amy could still picture Kitty's face when she left the Institute for a final time. Amy wondered if she could somehow contact her, it had been years, but she hoped that her friend still remembered her. She debated reaching out to Xavier himself telepathically, but decided against it. She hadn't used her powers in years and knew that they would be a tad rusty.

There was a sudden knock at the door as Agent Moore called to her, "Miss Lancaster, you're needed once again in the conference room. Director Fury wants to speak to you."

Amy sat upright and made her way for the door. Agent Moore stood on the other side, tapping his foot impatiently. Amy gave him a nod and followed him back towards the conference room. Upon entering, Amy noticed two new faces sitting beside Tony and Steve. The woman had fiery read hair and an equally intense glance as she looked at Amy. The man had piercing eyes but a friendly smile, he nodded at Amy as she sat down.

"Miss Lancaster, this is Natasha and Clint, they will also be working with you," Agent Moore said in a neutral voice. Clint extended his hand and Amy shook it. Natasha nodded at Amy. Amy was about to say something to her new teammates when Director Fury walked into the room again.

"Good, now we're just missing Thor and Banner," Nick Fury voiced as he glanced at Natasha and Clint. "I'm assuming you all want to know why I called you back here. Well, it's a long story. To give you a shorter version, our agents have picked up a strange level of energy around New York. We don't know its source, but it doesn't look too good. Natasha, did you pick up any information on your mission?"

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Lynn sat on the couch in her shared apartment and stared at her cellphone for a few minutes. _Parent's house my ass, _she thought to herself. Picking up her phone, she dialed the number that had been given to a few months back. It rang several times before someone answered.

"You were right, she's gone." Lynn listened to the response and gave it a brief thought before replying. "No, she didn't tell me where, but from what her boss said at the store, the guy was a government agent of some kind."

The other voice grew even more frustrated. "Look, I'll find out where she went. She won't get away, I promise." Lynn's eyes twinkled mischievously as she ended the call and then dialed Amy's parents' number to tell them of Amy's 'disappearance.'

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**So I hope you liked that chapter. I apologize if it was a little confusing, I had major writer's block and I just needed to get out all my thoughts. **

**I'll try to update as soon as I can. Please review, it means more than you can possibly imagine!**

**-Emily**


	5. Author's Note

Hi all. I'm sorry to say that this isn't a new chapter, as a matter of fact, new updates will probably be on hold for a while. I'm currently in the process of writing two Doctor Who stories and with life and school, I don't have time to plan out this one.

I think I'll pick this story up again eventually, but it might not be for a few more months. Thank you to all for expressing interest in Amy and Steve's story. xx

~Emily


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